to bring production and distribution of Tanka
products to the reservation. Small online
orders are still fulfilled from the 2,000-square-
foot warehouse attached to their office. But
for logistical and economic purposes, manufacturing and large-scale distribution are
executed with partnerships outside the reservation, with NANF overseeing every detail.

Hunter and Tilsen’s staff comprisesyounger tribal members so the next genera-tion can eventually take over the company.High school students on the reservation alsohelp seasonally with order fulfillment andlarge projects. “There are a lot of young, bril-liant people who want to stay connected toour community, to their family, to their cul-ture. They don’t want [to] leave the reserva-tion, but they’re almost economically forcedto,” Tilsen says. “They shouldn’t have to be putin that position.”To educate the younger generations aboutfiscal responsibility, Hunter and her businessmanager, Dawn Sherman, personally teachemployees finance skills, from balancing acheckbook to making a home purchase. This,Hunter says, will eventually evolve into ana-lyzing financial reports for the company.

On the horizon

What’s on NANF’s horizon? A better
question is “What isn’t?” Tilsen and Hunter
are working on plans for employees to become
company owners and seeking brand expansion with products from other Native communities. But one of their biggest focuses is
expanding the buffalo population.

But being the solution-driven entrepreneurs that they are, Hunter and Tilsen launched
The Tanka Fund (
tankafund.org), a nonprofit
with a goal to raise money to return 1 million
acres of Lakota land for raising buffalo. The
fund will help offset the expense of starting
herds, which will create more jobs on the reservation and provide a more sustainable supply
for Tanka products. They are launching the
first of their annual campaigns this November.

Overall, Hunter says, Tanka products give
them a platform to educate the world about
their mission, which she and Tilsen hope will
break down barriers Native populations face,
and spark new growth in their communities.

“This reservation is a place of huge con-tradictions because you have poverty, disease,alcoholism, crime; then you have this beauti-ful culture and these beautiful people, thisbeautiful land, this beautiful history. You havethese sort of paradigms that exist simultane-ously,” says Tilsen. “And that’s kind of wherewe started … could we just, not deny theproblems here, but not live in them. Try tolive beyond them and take the positive attri-butes—the history of wasna, the history oftaking care of the buffalo, the history of theculture with the buffalo—and, in a positiveway, move the company forward, which, in abigger sense, someday will hopefully movethe community forward.” CCompany:

Native American Natural Foods

Founders:

Karlene Hunter and Mark Tilsen

Employees: 12

Address:

287 Water Tower Road, Kyle, SD 57752

Phone: 1-800-416-7212

Website:
www.tankabar.com

Products at Costco.com:

Tanka Bars, Tanka Sticks and Tanka
Bites, and Tanka Variety Pack

Quote about Costco:

“This partnership with Costco is viewed
as a bigger thing in the Indian community than us selling Tanka Bars, because
it’s a major retailer who’s opening the
door to a very small Native company to
be able to provide worldwide market
access. People look at that as a huge
opportunity.”—Mark Tilsen, president
and co-founder

ctradictions because you have poverty, disease,edxproblems here, but not live in them. Try totaking care of the buffalo, the history of thebigger sense, someday will hopefully moveIn our digital editions

Click here to watch a clip about
Native American Natural Foods.
(See page 10 for details.)

Left to right: A member of the Lakota
tribe performs at a powwow; Lakota
buffalo herd; snow dusts the plains of
the Pine Ridge Reservation.